Outbound 125...

[aplmak]

#$(&%^# got my monitor.... yup intelligently packed as I recommended (floating in box with light pieces of bubble wrap)!!! NOT! Not easy to find this monitor.. and I asked it be protected well when shipped.... Ughhhhhhhh... well just the base is broken.. I suppose I can glue it! I've learned the hard way on shipments like this to take pictures before opening and even a video of me opening the box... so it's all recorded...

 

[tanaquil]

Argh! I hear you. I probably should have taken pictures of the unboxing of the imac I was recently complaining about in the G3 forum. Though in that case, I probably won't bother with the hassle of contacting the seller about it, since the exterior looks ok and whatever damage occurred was internal. Just another project for my overflowing project pile.

Noting the record-unboxing trick for future reference.

 

[aplmak]

Yeah so ALL can see just exactly how it was packed!

 

[Byrd]

That sucks - it looks like a fairly generic monitor casing, you might be able to find a replacement base from another donor CRT from a similar era.  It looks like the base is attached with a clip/screw to rotate around the domed bezel, which was a common method for CRTs in the day.

 

[james_w]

Contacted the guy selling the pile of Outbound disks asking him if he'd image them and share them but no luck, he just suggested I buy the disks... which at $50 <snip>

If anyone on here buys them - please image and share them on somewhere like Macintosh Garden (as long as it's (somewhat) legal to do so)!

 

[Bunsen]

https://wiki.68kmla.org/index.php/68kMLA:Forum_Rules#This_is_not_an_eBay.2FCraigslist.2Fetc_seller_appraisal_forum.E2.80.A6

 

[aplmak]

What stinks is the plastic base has the "Outbound" logo on it.. so the base is sort of essential to the piece... I am still working out damage claim so I haven't touched, cleaned or done anything with it yet till the end of the outcome...

 

[james_w]

https://wiki.68kmla.org/index.php/68kMLA:Forum_Rules#This_is_not_an_eBay.2FCraigslist.2Fetc_seller_appraisal_forum.E2.80.A6

Apologies - forgot myself!

 

[ScutBoy]

I'm going to resurrect this thread since it seems pertinent and not too old. Bunsen, you can split it off if you disagree.

Thanks to Cosmo, I now have an Outbound 125! That said, it was the bare machine - no power supply, cables, software/docs, etc.

I've currently located all the necessary batteries, and am working on getting a suitable power supply.

What I would love to get is some info on available doc, if there are any disk images out there for these guys, and a line on any accessories, especially the SCSI cable. A "real" Outbound power supply would be great as well. I have no idea as of yet what might be on the drive, but I guess I have to suppose it will be in Finnish so I'll have to figure out a way to do software re-install since I lack the floppy. SCSI Target disk mode seems like my best bet if I can find the cable.

TIA to anyone who can help out - it will be fun to get this guy up and running again. I remember seeing one way back in the day, when they cost more than my first three cars put together, not to mention needing a donor Mac to begin with!

 

[Cosmo]

Great that you received it! It made long flight over the atlantic to reach you.

Please continue (maybe new tread is in order?) how/what you do to it and what it requires to get it running & what you might found from the HDD.

I never had time to play around with it & obtain parts etc so i am interested to see how it works out.

 

[aplmak]

He got it working... I think he may need some translation assitance.. It's all in Finnish...  

 

[Cosmo]

I can be help on that, translating if needed Glad he got it working. Those are not common beasts at all. Too bad the display is not in perfect shape.

 

[trag]

I dug out some of the information I squirreled away almost 20 years ago.   Some of this I may have posted in other places at one time or another....

=========================================================

The Laptop 125 uses a 5.5 mm outer diameter and 2.5 mm inner diameter connector for the AC power input.  Actually, the inner diameter may be a tad smaller, but it's larger than 2.1 mm.   Digi-Key part number CP-004B-ND should work. 

The Laptop 125 connector is a Hirose DX10-28 part.

Display is LM64135Z from Sharp (not sure about the trailing Z).

Connor Hard Drive Specs.
model           cylinders   heads   sectors

CP2064          823                 4             38
CP2084          548              8             38

=========================================================

The AC adapter outputs 19VAC at some large current, either 1.5A or 2A, IIRC.  The part number for the AC adapter connector  appears no longer current, but EP501B-ND would probably work.

The "connector" referred to above is for the cable that connects the laptop to the SCSI or external floppy units.  HOwever, I think that DX10 is the connector on the Laptop.  The connector is Hirose's DX series.  The DX10 is the circuit board right angle connector.  The D30 is the cable plug connector --- with two of these you could make  your own cable.   The number of conductors is 28.  So DX10-28 for the logic board connector.   DX30-28 for the cable plugs.

I know that those Connor drives work in the Outbound.   Other drives with the same parameters would probably work as well.   I think that there was a 20MB and a 40MB drive that worked. 

Anybody remember an outfit that I think was in Oregon called Ready Access Memory, Inc.?   They used to advertise in the Mac magazines, usually fairly small sized ads.   Their web page way back when listed the Outbound 125 docking interface cards for the Plus and the SE.    I know I tried to call them back when.  IIRC they said they were sorting to figure out what they actually had in stock and to call back again later. 

Anyway, with all the digging that folks here have done over the years, anyone know who the human behind Ready Access Memory was and have contact info for them?   The stuff is probably long gone, but we do keep hearing about folks emptying out storage units...

 

[ScutBoy]

Yes - the machine is up and running. I hacked together a power supply of correct voltage with a suitable plug. I've all brand new batteries as well.

I let it charge for a while, and then tried to start it up by pressing an arrow key, as I interpreted the sticker on the keyboard. Nothing. Let it charge some more. Nothing. Finally, I realized the sticker showed all four arrow keys, so I pressed them all at the same time - chime and boot! Felt kind of like Gandalf at the door to Moria

Machine has 2.5 meg RAM and a 40 meg drive. It also has an issue with the LCD. Trag - having the part number for the panel from your post might at least give me a chance to find a replacement.

I'll need to figure out how to re-install the System software; with no floppy I'm guessing I'm going to have to try and get the machine booting from the RAM drive, and then install new OS and the Outbound extensions to the HD via AppleTalk, then force a boot from the HD by pulling the batteries and letting the RAM disk die. This may be interesting to do in Finnish! If someone wants to rent me the floppy drive and cable for a few days, I'm all ears

Big thanks to Cosmo for making the trade for the machine, and to aplmak for certain required disk images!

Attached is a quick, low-light picture right after first boot.

 

[bibilit]

Not having this rare beast myself, but concerning the system, replacing the System and Finder by your local country ones will be enough to get the right language.

tested a couple of times.

 

[ScutBoy]

Thanks bibilit! I'll give that a try when I get networking set up to this guy.

 

[ScutBoy]

I dug up some 1 MB SIMMs tonight, and populated the Outbound. I now have 4 MB of RAM vs. the 2.5 MB I had before, plus I now have a 4 MB Silicon Disk.

Once I confirm I'm booting from the RAM disk, then I can set up Appletalk and try and get a full install in English with the Outbound specific files on the spinning disk.

Thank goodness for Finnish -> English translation websites! So far, I haven't had to bug Cosmo for translation hints

 

[jsarchibald]

I've had my Portable in for repair for the longest time, reading this thread I can't wait to get it back!  A 'portable' machine running System 6, yes please!

 

[Cosmo]

Very much same thoughts! I have two, another one is almost perfect condition just lacking the battery replacement.

Scutboy, i am happy you've made progress with the Outbond! New tread is in order?